Cage-locking means



April 12', 1927. 1,624,759

-Q M I www l Vw,

@mmap vPatented Apr. 12, 1927.

;fuNlT-ED ESTATES.;

- STEPHENTQREAP, or OLYPHANT, PENNSYLVANIA.

GAGE-LooKING MEANSQ..Y

i Application filed June 1', i926 seriiNo. 112398.L i

Y In connection with the cages of mine shafts,l

it is customary to'provide.l an arrangement of fans or checks at theV landings, Vupon which to rest `the cage while a car is being run onto or from the cage or whilethelatterA is being otherwise loaded or unloaded.V

These fans are now projected by hand by an attendant/and the cage'is Vlowered onto them, being gradually brought to a stand still. Ifafter resting on the fans, while loading or unloading, the cage is to be further lowered, it mustV first be elevated free of the fans and the latter then released by handy to permit Avdescent of the cage, but if the-'cage is to belfurther elevated from the pointl inrwhich 'itisy held by the fans, it is customary to leave the latter projecteduntil they must finally' be Yretracted to permit descent of the cage. e

f It isfthe fobjectof my invention [to make novel provision,jvwhereby the movements of the cagev may .bereliedupon solely to con- ,trol'the y.projection and retraction of the fans, althoughY provision4 is preferably made for operating lthem` manually also, if de illustrating the relation of parts when `the cagevis 'elevated above the lpositionv o f Figure 2, .showing ,the i fans `:i latched. in" retracted inoperative position. y n Figure 4 is a horizontal section on line 4"-4 of Figure 3.4 i'

` lFigure 5 is ai vertical transverse vsection as indicated by line 5 5 of Figure'll lFigure. 6'is a vertical transverse sectional view on line 6-6 of Figure 3.

Figure 7 'is a ldetail vertical section' asV indicated by line 7-7 0f F igure'3.

In Ythe drawings-above briefly described,

S designates a portion of' a mine shaft, C hasV reference to a cage movable within the shaft in the usual manner, and L designates landing of the shaft. Two *fansV F are lFigure 3v is a view similary toFigure l'butV shown pivotally mounted at opposite sides of the shaft for movement to and from the operative .and inoperative positions shown in Figs l and 3 respectively, said ffans when in the position of Fig; l, servingto support the cage C at'th'elandingv'L,while said fans are positionedf'out of, the path of said cage when disposed as shown fin F ig. :3.

Links l()v are positioned horizontally between the fans F and have their outer ends pivoted to said fansfas indicated at 11, the

innerv ends of ,these links being pivoted at 12- to apair of bell cranks `13 whicharef suitably mounted ,upon brackets-'or the like 14 at one sidel of the shaft S. A` vertical link l5 is connected at its'flower endfatrl v with the bell cranks I13, sothatvertiCal movement of this linklwill 'either project' or retract the fans, according to the direction Opf-,such movement. "In the ,present showing,

the.' upper end oflink Yl5 is pivotedto a hand lever 17 mounted on ahorizontal supporting bar 18j within reach of an attendant at the landing. L, the end'ofthis lever remote, from the link/15, bein'gvslidable"in a vertical guide 19.-'.,By-manipulation lof lever 17, 'the fans F may beprojected or retracted .by hand'shouldfthisfbe desiredfand by inf Vserting a pin in an ,opening 2Q'insaid guide, said levermay' belocked in suchi'afposition as to hold the fans retracted, as disclosed ,in f

Fig; 3. Ordinarilyhowever, this .pin is 5 not insertedjin the opening .20, 'so that automatic movement of the fans maybe effectechby' the'means described-below.; i

Suitabl'y'mountedbelow the' bar.A 18, fis a v second horizontalbar 2l to. which a bracket or standard 22 is secured, the lower kportion `of this standard having a bearing 2 3 for one endV o f va horizontal' rock shaft 24,' theV other end of this rock` shaft being received. in the bearing 25 on the bar 21. Shaft 24A is prorvidedjvwith an inwardly projecting crank l arm 26 which-"is suitably connected-at 27, to the link 15, so that movement of the rock shaft maybe relied uponto 'produce either raising orlowering of this link, in the same manner'as actuation of vlever 17 would pro- "duce these movements The shaft 24 is' also provided with an l'actuating arm or trip 28 whichv'is in thepnath of another tripv 29v mounted onone side of the :cage C, thistrip -beingpivotally mounted so that it' is free :to

swing upwardly toward the cage, but'islim- -it'edfin its downward swingingvbyV stops .30,

to a position yat `which it projectsflaterally from said cage. As seen in Figsll and 5, whenv the fans F are projected and support 1 the cage C, the actuating arm 28 is'spaced a considerable distance above the trip 29, but if the cage is raised sufficiently, said trip will engage said arm 23, thus turning the' shaft 24 and causing the arm 26ste raise the link 15, and this movement, causes the belll cranksr13 and links 10 to retract the fans F,-to`the position o'fliig. 3, and when this relation hasrbeen reached, the trip clears the', arm 28, so that the'cage may it'urtherascend if desired. Provision is also made for holding the fans inretracted position after they are once retracted, so that if after upward movement of the cage sufficiently to Aretract said fans, the cage is to' be further lowered, this may beV done without interferthis connection, attention may be directed to Figs.3 and 6, both of which showl the latch 31 inthe notch33' of link 10. For releasing this latch 31 when desired, an upper arm or trip Y3,4 is pivoted at 35 to vthe standard 22 and projectstowardthe cage C, ata point above thear'm 28, and V*said arm 34 is c'onnected ,by alinkor other suitable means 36 with the latch r31. It thus follows,lthat if the cage is raisedsiuliciently fromlany position to permit itsy trip 29 to engage the arm 34 -and'sving' the' latter upwardly, linkV 36 will" release the` latch 31, permitting the fans F to project themselves bygravity orothe'r'- wise, to. operative position.

, lIt ,will be remembered that upon vinitial ascent of thefcage @from the position'of'Fig.

' 1,v the'trip 29 engaged'the arm 28 and effect- .edretraction of thefans I" to the Apnsition of-Figl 3, the latch 31 then holding the fans Vin-.this retracted positioms-ofthat the .cage

eend, however, instead of descend, the trip 29V must necessarily engage arm 34, .releasing, the latch 31 and permitting the fans F to again project, and as the cage ascends, the fans are lleft in this projected position, but if their use is not again .necessary to support the cage on its nextV trip downwardthe lever 17 may be actuated to retract s aid fans, and the latch 31 will then immediately come into play to hold them in retracted position, Infthis connection, it may `further be eX- plained lthat after the fans' F havebeen left' in projectedfposition by ascent of the' cage C, they need not be returned to the position of Fig.3, by hand. Instead, -upon the'next descent of the cage, it may be stopped just .afterthe trip 29moves belowthe arm 28.

Then, the cagema'y be' raised sufficiently 'to cn descend if desired.'` If the cage is to ascause said 'trip and arm: to 'turn the shaft 2li and cause the arm 26 to upwardly pull the link 15, which movement causes the bell cranks 13 and links 10 to retract the fans,

the latch 31 then coming into play to hold them. The cage is of course stopped when trip 29 clears arm 28 and before it engages arm 34;. The cage may now further desccnd, as ,will be readily understood and as said cage descends, while the trip 29 willr plishing certain automaticsetting of theV fans. Y

On accountl of advantagesexisting for the general'constructions herein disclosed,fit is preferably. followed. However,- Witliin the scope of the invent-ion' as claimed, variations may of course Vbe made.

Iclaim:

1. In combination with a shaft and a cage mounted for movement therein; a prjectable and retractable support to Vsustain the weight of the cage at a kdesired landing, :a rock shaft mounted at one side of the cage, said rock shaft being" stationary with respect tothe movement of's'aid cage, an actuating arml for' said'rock shaft rigidlyV secured thereto and'proj ecting laterally therefrom toward the cage, said cage having a trip portion adapted to engage said arm and rock said lshaft only when the cage movesrin one direction, a second arm rigidlysecured to and projecting from said rock shaft, and operating` connections between sa'id second arm and said lsupport for retracting the latter when said .shaft is turned by the first named arm. v y Y Y r 2. ln combination with a shaft jand acage mounted for movement therein; a proj ectable and retractable support to sustain theweight ofthe cage at desiredlanding, a` rock shaft mounted at one side of the cage, said; rock shaft being stationary. with respect to the inovenlentof the cage, an actuating arm for said4 rock shaft projecting laterally n therefromtoward the cage, a' trip on said cage adapted to engage said arm and rock said shaft only when the cage moves inone di'- rection, a second arm secured to and projecting from the rock shaft, abell crank operatively connected with said support and having an arm',k below said second arm, and a connection between said second arm and said yarm of the bell crank.

3. 1n combination lwith a shaftwand alcage mounted for movement a'long'the samea projectable and retractable support to sustain the weight of the cage at a desired hlanding, cage-controlled means for retract-ing said support, including a trip stationary withv respect to the cage and actuated by the latter' to effect retraction of the support,

positive holding means for retaining said support in a retracted position, and releasingmeans for said holding means, including a movably mounted cage-actuated trip spacedv above the aforesaid trip to effect release of said holding meansI upon ascent of the cage, permitting projection of the support.

4. In combination with a shaft and a cage mounted for movement along the same; a: projectable and retractable support to sustain the Weight of saiclcage at a given landing, a, horizontally positioned link connected to said support for projecting and retracting it, a bell crank pivotally connected with said link and mounted at one side of the shaft,

a vertical link rising from and connected with said bell crank, a rock shaft mounted horizontally at one side of the shaft and' having a crank arm pivotally connected with vthe end of said vertical link, an actuating arm projecting from said rock' shaft toward the cage, a' trip projecting from the cage and adapted to engage said actuating arm to rock said shaft onlyl when the cage ascends, whereby to effect retraction of said support, a latch engageable with said horizontal link to hold lsaid support in retracted position, a third arm mounted above said actuating arm and'adapted to be upwardly swung by sai'dtrip, and a releasing connection between said third arm and said latch' lfor releasing the latterwhen the former isV upwardly swung. j Y

In testimony whereof I have hereunto'afxed my signature. c

' f STEPHEN J. REAP. 

